Marine propulsion and steering apparatus

ABSTRACT

Propulsion and steering apparatus for a marine vessel providing for 360* rotation of the propulsion unit about its vertical axis. The propulsion drive shaft is coupled to a parallel, double pinion gear by a chain drive, the double pinion and propulsion shaft being in fixed relation with respect to each other. The double pinion gear is engaged by a receiving circular rack gear rotatable about the vertical axis of the chain drive, the receiving rack gear being driven by a power source. The propulsion shaft, chain drive and double gear shaft are disposed within a vertical housing, the total vertical housing being rotatable through 360* of arc.

United States Patent 11 1 Peterson Mar. 5, 1974 1 MARINE PROPULSION ANDSTEERING 237x511) (1 1945 Slack o1 =11 115/37 x APPARATUS FOREIGNPA'IEN'IS ()R APPLICATIONS I76] Inventor: Earl A. Peterson, 4i l lChestnut 437,078 7/1948 Ital 1. l l5/35 Avc., Long Beach, Calif. H748 t.Primary lakaminer(icorgc A. Halvosa 22 P l*dv 9 Y I I I L l 7] AssistantIixaminer-Edward R. Kazcnske I21] Appl. No.:1l74,9l6 I Related u.s.Application Data '5 ABSTRACT I63] Continuation-impart of Scr. No. 30 763April 22 Propulsion and Steermg apparatus for a marme -l970 aband0ncd Iproviding for 360 rotation of the propulsion unit I 1 about its verticalaxis. The propulsion drive shaft is 52 us. C1. 115/35, 115/34 R coupledto a p r llel, double pinion gear by a chain 3 51 Int. Cl B63h 25/42drive the double Piioln and Propulsion Shaft being 3 [58] Field ofSearch [15/35 34 37 38 41 fixed relation with respect to each other. Thedouble Y i i 1 pinion gear is engaged by a receiving circular rack gearrotatable about the vertical axis of the chain I 56] References Citeddrive, the receiving rack gear being driven by a power source. Thepropulsion shaft, chain drive and double UNITED TA PATENTS gear'shaftare disposed within a vertical housing, the vfi Jr total verticalhousing being rotatable through 360 of 1 son v t g I 650,224 5/1900.Beyer 1 .v 115/35 3,013,519 12/1961 Wiggcrmann 1 15/35 8 Claims, 3Drawing Figures PATENTEW 5 3, 795.2 1 9 INVENTOR. 64e A. pe'rexeao/v 1MARINE PROPULSION ANI) STEERING I APPARATUS' This is aconti'nuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 30,763 filed Apr. 22,19 70 abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention marine propulsion and steering apparatus is generally relatedto marine propulsion systems and, more particularly, to combinedsteeringpropulsion systems.

2. Prior Art The proliferation in the number of commercial and privatemarine vessels has made it increasingly evident that improved propulsionand steering apparatus are E needed. The prior art discloses manydifferent catagot ries of mechanisms for a propelling and steering amarine vessel. One of the most common devices disclosed by the prior artincorporates a propeller shaft disposed through the hull of the vessel,the shaft beingrotated by an inboard power source. Other devicesdisclosed by the prior art comprises a variety of inboard-outboarddrives. A typical inboard-outboard drive utilizes a pair of horizontal,vertically spaced shafts linked by a pullyhousing of the propulsionapparatus, and define a plane surface between the two shafts. A circularrack gear having inner. and outer gear surfaces is freely rotatable Iabout the housing of the chain drive, the inner rack when referring tothe needto provide both forward and reverse motive force to the vessel.This problem has beenovercome in the prior art only by providing meansfor reversing the torque transmitted by the power rudders are generallyusedtoprovide sufficient manuvcrability to the vessel, v 7

Other propulsion devices disclosed by the prior art transmit the troqueof the power source to a combination of bevel gears, one gear beingattached to thepropeller shaft, the second mating bevel gear typicallybeing secured to a vertically disposed rotating shaft coupling the powersource and the propeller shaft. One of the problems inherent in thisdesign is the failure of the bevel gear assembly due to watercontamination. Since this portion of the device disclosed'by the priorart is typically submerged-in water at all times, any leak or otherwater contamination will cause deterioration and eventual failure of thegear units.

' The present invention marine propulsion and steering appratus solvesthe problems left unresolved by the prior art by utilizing'a chain drivesystem which permits 360 rotation of the entire power drive. Bypermitting the power'unit to rotate a full-360 of arc, the presentinvention eliminates. the need for reversing gears or other means forreversing the torque of the power source. In addition, the use of chaindrive precludes the.

failure problems inherent in those devices disclosed by the prior art.

or more chain drivecouplings. The propeller shaft is disposedhorizontally, a double'pinion or bevel gear gear mating with the piniongears of the double pinion gear shaft. The power source is coupled tothe outer rack gear by a pinion gear which will transmit the torque ofthe power source to the pinion gear shaft through rotation of thecircular rackgear. The housing for'the chain drive and the propellershaft is rotated to control the direction in which the vessel will bemoved.

Since the rack gear is fully rotatable with respect to the housing ofthe chain drive and propellershaft, the full torque of the power sourcewill be transmitted to the double pinion gear shaft irrespective of theposition of the pinion gearshaft and the propeller shaft in relation tothe hull of the vessel.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved propulsion and steering appara- It is another object of thepresent invention to provide a propulsion and steering apparatusrotatable through a full 360 of are. I

It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide amarine propulsion and steering apparatus which isolates the drivingmembers to the propeller shaft from the remaining driving members topreclude water contamination.

- It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a marinepropulsion and steering apparatuscapable of supplying full power througha full 360 of arc. It .is still yet another objectof they presentinvention to provide a marine propulsion and steering apparatus which issubstantially simplified and economical to fabricate. I v

- The novel features which are believed to becharac teristic of theinvention, both as to its organization and method of operation, togetherwith further objectives and-advantages thereof, will be betterunderstood from the following description considered in connection withthe accompanying drawing in which a presently preferred embodiment ofthe invention is illustrated by way of example. It is to be expresslyunderstood, however, that the drawing is for the purpose of illustrationand description only'and is not intended as a definition of the limitsof the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevation,cross-sectional view of a marine propulsion and steering apparatus inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view, in a partial cross-section, ofa marinepropulsion steering apparatus in accordance with the present inventiontaken through line 22 ofFlG. l. I

FIG. 3 is a schematic, perspective view of the-cooperating elements ofthe present invention illustrating the steering and propulsion membersthereof.

DESCRIPTION or THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An understanding ofthe structure of the present invention can be best gained by referenceto FIG. 1

wherein a side elevation, cross-sectional view of a propulsion andsteering apparatus in accordance with the present invention is shown;Power source drive shaft 1 is rotatably mounted through a side wall ofgear housing 2. Power source drive shaft 1 is connected to aconventional power source used for marine propulsion mechanisms, thepower source typically being an internal combustion engine, gas turbineor other similar energy source. Power source drive shaft 1 transmits theoutput torque Of the power source, the power source being conventionaland not shown. Pinion gear 3 depends from power source drive shaft 1 andconverts the direction of the rotation force by 90 of are. Pinion gear 3is coupled to receiving outer rack gear 4. Outer rack gear 4 and innerrack gear 5 are circular gears integral with each other and rotatablyjourneled upon suitable bearings 6 about chain assembly housing 7.Integral rack gears 4 and 5 are journeled upon bearings 6 with respectto the hull of the marinevessel upon which the present invention ismounted.

Chain assembly housing 7 is a substantially cylindrical-like membercoupled to the vessel hull and journeled about the vertical axis ofhousing 7 in suitable bearings 8 and 9. Double pinion gear shaft 10 isdisposed through and mounted perpendicular to the vertical axis of chainassembly housing 7, double pinion gear shaft 10 being rotatably mountedalong its horizontal axis in suitable bearings. Double pinion gear shaft10 is rotatable about its horizontal axis while being stationary withrespect to the vertical 'axis of chain assembly housing 7. Dependingfrom the axial gear 5. It can therefore be seen that rotation of outerrack gear 4 will result in the simultaneous rotation of inner rack gear5. Inner rack gear 5 is meshed with pinion gears 11 and 12. Sprockets 13are disposed about and secured to shaft 10, sprockets 13 being rotatablewith shaft 10. Sprockets 13 are disposed within chain assembly housing7, chain drive 15 being coupled to sprockets 13 within chain assemblyhousing 7. It can therefore be seen that the rotation of power sourcedrive shaft 1 will transmit rotational movement to rack gear 4 and 5about the vertical axis of chain assembly housing 7. The rotation ofrack gears 4 and 5 will cause pinion gears 11 and 12 to rotate abouttheir horizontal axis thereby rotating sprockets '13 and transmittingthe torque 'to chain drive 15. Where the respective gear ratios areequal, the torque transmitted to chain drive 15 will be substantiallyequal to that present at power source drive shaft 1.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the'manner in which the present inventioncombines the steering and propulsion fucntions can be best seen. Asstated, chain assembly housing 7 is rotatably journeled in bearings 8and 9, housing 7 being rotatably coupled with respect to the hull of thevessel. Steering gear 18 is concentrically disposed about and secured tochain assembly housing 7 within gearhousing 2. Gear 18 is meshed withpinion ends of double pinion shaft 10 are pinion or bevel gears I1 andI2. Pinion gears '11 and 12'are meshed with inner rack gear 5 atdiametrically opposed locations along the circumference of rack gear 5.Double pinion gears 11 and 12 stabilize and balance pinion gear shaft 10and thereby relieve the mechanical stress imposed on the bearings withinwhich shaft 10 is journeled.

Sprockets 13 are disposed about and secured to double pinion gear shaft10 within chain assembly housing 7. Propeller shaft 14 is disposedthrough the wall of chain housing 7 and journeled in suitable bearingstherein. Propeller shaft 14 is in parallel spaced relation with doublepinion gear shaft 10, shafts 10 and 15 forming a planar surfacetherebetween. Propeller shaft 14 is rotatably journeled about itshorizontal axis while being stationary with respect to vertical axis,ofchain assembly housing 7. Sprockets 16 are disposed about and secured topropeller shaft 14 in aligned registration with sprockets 13 mountedupon shaft 10. Although the preferred embodiment of the presentivnention utilizes chain drive 15 to coupled sprockets l3 and 16, it iswithin the scope of the present invention to utilize a belt and pullyassembly in place of sprockets l3 and 16 and chain drive 15. Propeller17 is mounted at the exposed end of propeller shaft 14 and upon therotation thereof will provide the motive force to the vessel upon whichthe present invention is-installed.

An understanding of the cooperative relationship between propulsionelements of the present invention can be best seen by reference to FIG.2. FIG. 2 illustrates a top plan view of the propulsion elements of thepresent invention. As can be seen, power source drive shaft 1 isdisposed through the outer wall of gear housing 2, power source driveshaft 1 being terminated at pinion or bevel gear 3. Pinion gear 3 ismeshed with circular, outer rack gear 4 which is integral .with theinner rack gear 19, the rotation of gear 19 transmitting the steeringrotational movement to steering gear 18 and chain assembly housing 7.Steering shaft 20 depends from steering pinion l9, steering shaft 20being rotatably mounted through the wall of gear housing 2, steeringshaft 20 being journeled in suitable bearings mounted upon gear housing2. Coneentrically disposed about and mounted upon shaft 20 is gear 21adapted to mesh with external gear 22. The rotation of gear 21 isprovided external to gear housing 2, the rotation of gear 21 beingtransmitted through steering shaft 20 and steering pinion 19. Sincechain assembly housing 7 is fully rotatable upon bearings 8 and 9,rotation of steering pinion gear 19 will effect a full 360 rotation ofthe power output of propeller 17 thereby providing for fullmanuverability without requiring reversing gears or other means forreversing the power source coupled to power source drive shaft 1.Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention is adaptedfor full 360 rotation, it is, of course, obvious that a reversable powersource could housed for the rotation of power source drive shaft 1.

As stated, an object of the present invention is to isolate the chaindrive assembly 15 and coupled sprockets l3 and 16 from the lubricatingsystem for the remainder of the present invention marine propulsion andsteering apparatus. Since propeller shaft 14 and the bearingsjournelingsame will be submerged in Water at all times during normal operation, itis possible that the seal at the journeling bearings could permit thepassage of water into the interior of chain assembly housing 7. Sincechain drive 15 and the respective sprocket drives 13 and 16 are sealedfrom the remainder of the gear members and the lubricating systemstherefor, the entry of any water into the interior of chain assemblyhousing 7 will be totally isolated from the remainder of the system.There will be no substantial deleterious effect upon chain drive 15 andcoupled sprockets 13 and 16 from water since the nature of the membersand the isolation thereof will prevent any material damage. In thismanner, the system cannot be contaminated by the passage of the waterwithin the system thereby providing for increased reliability.

Referring nowto FIG. 3, the operation of the present invention marinepropulsion and steering apparatus can be best seen. Chain assemblyhousing 7 is depicted by the dotted line illustrating the isolation ofthe chain drive assembly from the remainder of the propulsion andsteering system. The rotation of power source drive shaft 1 impartstorque to pinion gear 3 which in turn translates the torque 90 impartingthe rotation to outer rack gear 4. Outer rack gear 4 is integral withinner rack gear 5 again translating the imposed torque 90 at pinion gear11. For the purpose ofillustration, only pinion gear 11 is shown. Piniongear 11 being fixedly attached to shaft 10, rotates shaft and in turn,imposes rotational torque upon sprockets l3. Sprockets 13 provide themotiveforce to chain drive 15 and therefore to mating sprockets 16. Therotation of sprockets l6 imparts rotational force to propeller shaft 14.Since integral rack gears 4 and 5 are freely rotatable about chainassembly housing 7, the steering portion of the present invention allowsthe full utilization of the output of the power sourceirrespective ofthe direction in which propeller shaft l4v is disposed. As seen in FIG.3, propeller shaft 14 has been moved to provide starboard movement ofthe vessel. Steering gear 18 is fixedly mounted about chain assemblyhousing 7, steering gear 18 being rotated through rotation of meshedsteering pinion 19. From FlG.3 can be seen that propeller shaft 14 canbe rotated'through a'full 360 of arcand continue to transmit the fullrotational power imposed upon'power source drive shaft 1. In addition, arotation force on power source drive shaft 1 could be reversed,theeffect thereof merely reversing the directional arrows illustrated inFIG. 3. g Y I The present invention marine. propulsion and steeringapparatus provides a highly simplified system for utilizing the power ofan inboard motor and transmitting same. in an efficient manner whilesimultaneouslyproviding means for increasing thereliability of thesystem. The use ofa chain drive'ass'embly which is isolated from theremainder of the steering and propulsionsystem eliminates failure of thesystem due to water contamination. ln addition, the ability to rotatethe propulsion force through a full 360 of are substantially simplifiesthe need for additional equipment to couple the power source to thepresent invention. The present invention ,marine propulsion and steeringapparatus therefore provides a system for propelling and steeringamarine vessel which is economical to fabricate and easier to maintainthan the devices disclosed by the prior art.

I claim: 1 v a l. Apropulsion and steering apparatus for use on a vesselcomprising:

e. means for transmitting torque between said propeller shaft and saidgear shaft comprising first and second sprockets disposed about andsecured to said propeller shaft and said gear shaft respectively I andan endless drive member coupled about .said

first and second sprockets; f. a first gear coupled to the power source;g. a second gear coupled to and extending from said gear shaft; I

h. coupling means for coupling gear surfaces rotatably disposed aboutsaid housing and coupled to said first and second gears; and

i. steering means for positioning said apparatus coupled to saidhousing.

V 2. A propulsion and steering apparatus as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid rotational power source is a unidirectional power source.

3. Apropulsion and steering apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein saidcoupling means comprises a pair of concentric rack'gears integral withone another.

-4. A marine propulsion and steering apparatus for use on a marinevessel comprising:

a. a rotational power source mounted upon the vessel in fixed relationthereto; i i v b. a housing member rotatably'mounted to said vessel forrotation about the vertical axis of said housing;

c. a propeller member including a propeller shaft rotatably mountedthrough said housing to rotate about a horizontalaxis and beingperpendicular to the vertical axis of said housing member;

d. a pinion gear shaft member including a pinion gear shaft in parallelspaced relation to said propeller shaft and being rotatably mountedthrough said housing member to rotate about-its horizontal axis andbeing perpendicular to the vertical axis of said housing member and afirst pinion gear axially extending from an end of said pinion gearshaft;

e. an endless drive member coupled about said propeller shaft and saidpiniongear shaft wherebythe rotation of said pinion gear shaft istransmitted -to said propeller shaft; f. power means for coupling therotational power of the power source including a second pinion gearcoplanar with said pinion gear shaft member;

g. inner and outer integral, circular rack gears rotatably disposedabout said housing member, said fined in claim 4 wherein said rotationalpower source is a unidirectional power source.

6. A marine propulsion and steering apparatus as defined in claim 4wherein said steering means'includes' a circular gear disposed about andsecured to said housing member and means for steering coupled to saidcircular gear whereby said housing member is rotatable through 360 ofarc.

7. A propulsion and steering apparatus for propelling and steering amarine vessel comprising:

a. a rotational power source secured to and in fixed relation to themarine vessel; b. a chain assembly housing being rotatably mounted tothe vessel for rotation about the vertical axis of said housing;

c. a propulsion member including a propeller shaft rotatably mountedthrough said chain assembly said gear shaft having a first beveled geardepending from an axial end thereof;

e. first and second sprockets disposed about and secured to said gearshaft andsaid propeller shaft respectively, and being within said chainassembly housing;

f. a chain drive member coupled between said first and second sprockets;

g, power means for coupling the rotational power of the power sourceincluding a second beveled gear coplanar with said gear shaft and firstbeveled gear;

h. a circular rack gear member having inner and outer concentric rackgears rotatably disposed about said chain assembly housing, said innerrack gear coupled to said first beveled gear and said outer rack gearcoupled to said second beveled gear; and

. steering means for rotating said chain assembly housing throug 360 ofare including a circular gear disposed about and secured to said chainassembly housing.

8. A propulsion and steering apparatus as defined in claim 7 whereinsaid rotational power source is a unidirectional power source.

1. A propulsion and steering apparatus for use on a vessel comprising:a. a rotational power source mounted upon the vessel in fixed relationthereto; b. a housing rotatably mounted to said vessel for rotationabout the vertical axis of said housing; c. a propeller shaft rotatablymounted through said housing to rotate about its horizontal axis andbeing perpendicular to the vertical axis of said housing; d. a gearshaft in parallel spaced relation to said propeller shaft rotatablymounted through said housing to rotate about its horizontal axis andbeing perpendicular to the vertical axis of said housing; e. means fortransmitting torque between said propeller shaft and said gear shaftcomprising first and second sprockets disposed about and secured to saidpropeller shaft and said gear shaft respectively and an endless drivemember coupled about said first and second sprockets; f. a first gearcoupled to the power source; g. a second gear coupled to and extendingfrom said gear shaft; h. coupling means for coupling gear surfacesrotatably disposed about said housing and coupled to said first andsecond gears; and i. steering means for positioning said apparatuscoupled to said housing.
 2. A propulsion and steering apparatus asdefined in claim 1 wherein said rotational power source is aunidirectional power source.
 3. A propulsion and steering apparatus asdefined in claim 1 wherein said coupling means comprises a pair ofconcentric rack gears integral with one another.
 4. A marine propulsionand steering apparatus for use on a marine vessel comprising: a. arotational power source mounted upon the vessel in fixed relationthereto; b. a housing member rotatably mounted to said vessel forrotation about the vertical axis of said housing; c. a propeller memberincluding a propeller shaft rotatably mounted through said housing torotate about a horizontal axis and being perpendicular to the verticalaxis of said housing member; d. a pinion gear shaft member including apinion gear shaft in parallel spaced relation to said propeller shaftand being rotatably mounted through said housing member to rotate aboutits horizontal axis and being perpendicular to the vertical axis of saidhousinG member and a first pinion gear axially extending from an end ofsaid pinion gear shaft; e. an endless drive member coupled about saidpropeller shaft and said pinion gear shaft whereby the rotation of saidpinion gear shaft is transmitted to said propeller shaft; f. power meansfor coupling the rotational power of the power source including a secondpinion gear coplanar with said pinion gear shaft member; g. inner andouter integral, circular rack gears rotatably disposed about saidhousing member, said inner rack gear coupled to said first pinion gearand said outer rack gear coupled to said second pinion gear; and h.steering means for rotating said housing member about its vertical axisfor steering said apparatus.
 5. A marine propulsion and steeringapparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said rotational power source isa unidirectional power source.
 6. A marine propulsion and steeringapparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said steering means includes acircular gear disposed about and secured to said housing member andmeans for steering coupled to said circular gear whereby said housingmember is rotatable through 360* of arc.
 7. A propulsion and steeringapparatus for propelling and steering a marine vessel comprising: a. arotational power source secured to and in fixed relation to the marinevessel; b. a chain assembly housing being rotatably mounted to thevessel for rotation about the vertical axis of said housing; c. apropulsion member including a propeller shaft rotatably mounted throughsaid chain assembly housing and adapted to rotate about its horizontalaxis, said propeller shaft being perpendicular to the vertical axis ofsaid chain assembly housing and a propeller depending from an end ofsaid propeller shaft; d. a gear shaft in parallel, spaced relation tosaid propeller shaft and being rotatably mounted through said chainassembly housing and adapted to rotate about its horizontal axis andbeing perpendicular to the vertical axis of said chain assembly housing,said gear shaft having a first beveled gear depending from an axial endthereof; e. first and second sprockets disposed about and secured tosaid gear shaft and said propeller shaft respectively, and being withinsaid chain assembly housing; f. a chain drive member coupled betweensaid first and second sprockets; g. power means for coupling therotational power of the power source including a second beveled gearcoplanar with said gear shaft and first beveled gear; h. a circular rackgear member having inner and outer concentric rack gears rotatablydisposed about said chain assembly housing, said inner rack gear coupledto said first beveled gear and said outer rack gear coupled to saidsecond beveled gear; and i. steering means for rotating said chainassembly housing throug 360* of arc including a circular gear disposedabout and secured to said chain assembly housing.
 8. A propulsion andsteering apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said rotational powersource is a unidirectional power source.